White, straight, even teeth are widely regarded as cosmetically attractive and desirable, both in the United States and in numerous other countries. It conveys health, beauty, success and happiness. A friendly, beaming, self-confident smile shares an instant non-spoken universal message with whomever one meets. However, the size, shape and color of teeth can be adversely affected over time by activities including eating, drinking, smoking, sports, accidents, nighttime bruxism and so forth. Other individuals have a variety of dental needs that require aesthetic restoration of the teeth due to spaces, chips, malformed or misshaped teeth, uneven or crooked teeth as well as a myriad of other aesthetic dental problems. Treatment has typically required expensive and extensive dental work that can often result in dental veneers that don't look natural and tend to look like the individual had their teeth “fixed”. Accordingly, there is a need for a method of making tooth veneers that eliminates the time, expense, loss of control of the size, shape and illusions that can create a natural looking smile or an artificial appearance that many consumers want to avoid after having their teeth treated.
Some tooth veneer techniques employ the use of a porcelain restoration that can make teeth appear too large, wide or do not match the shade of the consumer's adjacent teeth. The size and shape of the veneers also often do not blend in well with the shape of the consumer's face. All of these factors help create veneers that look unnatural and are considered to be undesirable to the average consumer who wants to have a natural looking smile. Conventional porcelain veneer technology requires the experience of a skilled practitioner to perform one or more of the following to have a dental laboratory fabricate a porcelain veneer that can be bonded to the facial (front) surface of the teeth: initial consultation, written smile analysis, chairside smile analysis, taking study models, wax ups, tooth preparation, local anesthesia, impressions, face bow transfer, temporaries, dental indexes, try in appointments, shade and veneer modification, finishing and polishing as well as other procedural steps. This can be time consuming and very expensive. The tooth preparation can be minimal to significant depending on the requirements of the patient's dental aesthetic condition as well as the philosophy and technique employed by the laboratory technician in creating a porcelain veneer. Some dentists employ tooth preparation techniques that require so much tooth preparation that the dentist needs to fabricate temporary veneers for the patient to wear until the final porcelain veneers are completed. Otherwise the teeth would be exposed to temperature changes in the oral cavity causing sensitivity as well as creating an unaesthetic appearance when the patient would be in public. All of these steps contribute to high fees that make veneer systems affordable to a select few. Fees can be so high that the average consumer who could benefit from veneer technology is unable to afford these services. Thus, a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that eliminates the requirement of tooth preparation as well as the time and expense associated with all of the additional requisite steps employed by dental professionals skilled in the art and science of restoring teeth using porcelain veneers.
As part of the fabrication process, conventional porcelain veneers are also etched by the laboratory technician for enhanced retention and are later bonded by the dentist to the facial surface of the teeth using a bonding agent, typically made of a composite resin. When a dentist tries in the porcelain veneer and uses a try in paste to hold the veneer onto the tooth, the dentist must make certain that the micro-porosities created by the laboratory technician when etching the inside of the veneer are not compromised during the try in phase or retention will be compromised, resulting in a delaminated veneer. If the veneer does not match the size, shape color or appearance of the adjacent teeth, or if a laboratory technician was unable to create the appropriate illusion effects with the porcelain veneer to match the size, shape and overall appearance of the patient's smile line and facial shape, then additional try in appointments will be required. This increases the patient's stress level as well as the dentists, not knowing how the final veneer will look. Thus, a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that can easily be fabricated, tried in and adjusted by the dentist, allowing the dentist to control factors such as size, shape, color and illusion affects with the veneer and then to bond the veneer that same day to the patient's teeth once the dentist and patient agree on the aesthetic appearance, in one appointment, thus saving the patient time, expense and enhances the final aesthetic outcome.
A perceived advantage of porcelain veneer systems are that porcelain baked in an oven obtains high luster and resists staining. However, the final outcome of how a porcelain veneer will look in the patient's mouth can only be approximated by the dentist who either uses a best guess scenario or attempts to determine the final appearance of the veneer with the use of computer imaging systems. This can present a very real problem for patients when the dentist and laboratory technician are unable to deliver a veneer that matches the imaging produced by the computer system. This is because computers are unable to drill and prepare the teeth and thus, the computer imaging software can estimate what the final outcome might look like. The dentist's skill set and technical ability may or might not match what the computer imaging system anticipated the final outcome would look like when it is the dentist, and not the computer, who has to replicate and duplicate what the computer imaging system hoped for as a final result. Thus, a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that provides patients with a more predictable outcome using composite resin technology that can enhance the patient's dental appearance while providing the patient with an outcome that matches the anticipated results.
For the porcelain veneer, since the laboratory technician is typically not in the dental office, the technician is not able to see how light reflects off the porcelain surface once placed on the patient's tooth. Thus, for example, when a patient wants to close a diastema (space between the teeth), the laboratory technician might produce an anatomically correct veneer that once tried in the mouth does not fit the patient's smile since the laboratory technician does not have the ability to see how light reflections bounce off the teeth. This effect might make the veneers that closed the space look unnaturally wide for that patient. Thus a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that allows the dentist to control the light reflections in order for the veneer to minimize, if not completely eliminate, the issue of size and shape concerns.
Every dentist knows that the most difficult procedure to do is a single veneer to match the adjacent teeth. This is because teeth often have subtle color differences from one tooth to the next, making it very challenging, if not impossible, to have a laboratory technician match these shade variations when fabricating a veneer in the dental laboratory. Since the laboratory technician is typically off premises and working in a dental laboratory with a written work order and maybe a picture from the dentist, the laboratory technician can only guess at how the veneer might blend in with the adjacent teeth. Additionally, when a single veneer is done, it often adds more bulk to the teeth than the adjacent teeth and creates an aesthetic dilemma for the dentist and patient when the tooth tends to “stick out”. Thus, a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that allows the dentist to closely match the size, shape and color of the adjacent teeth with the dentist having in-office control of these factors to achieve a more predictable, aesthetically pleasing match to the adjacent teeth.
Problematically, other conventional veneer systems such as composite resins do not provide the patient or dentist with an exact preview of how their veneer will look and can often appear large, bulky and can absorb stains that mar the appearance of the final veneer. Still further, in some subjects gum irritation is induced in some patients by the composite veneer process, sometimes to the point of causing gingivitis or other periodontal issues. Thus, a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that allows the dentist to avoid gum irritation, bulkiness, resist staining and plaque accumulation.
Conventional composite veneers also require the dentist to have the artistic ability to sculpt the veneer directly on the patient's teeth. Since this takes significant effort and expertise, most dentists prefer to do what they were initially trained to do in dental school, to pick up a drill and prepare, or “file” the tooth down, requiring the removal of otherwise healthy enamel, and then to take an impression and hope that the dental laboratory is able to produce a veneer that is satisfactory and pleasing to the patient. However, this may not always be in the patient's best interest to have healthy tooth enamel removed. It may also not be in the patient's best interest since the patient may be unable to afford the high fees associated with porcelain veneers. Further, the laboratory technician in making the porcelain veneers can only anticipate what the dentist will be seeing when trying the veneers on the patient at the office and consequently creates a veneer that may or may not look as natural or matches the size, shape or color as the patient wants. Thus, a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers where a veneer can be created in an office setting where a dentist can have complete control of the variables that create a beautiful, natural looking veneer.
Conventional composite veneers are typically done with the patient in a reclined position and the dentist applies tooth colored resins in a layered manner to correct the aesthetic problem that the patient wants to improve. However, this conventional technique does not allow the dentist or patient to know in advance just what the final veneer will look like. This fosters an uncertain outcome and causes a scenario where patient's expectations may not be met or requires multiple follow up visits to achieve what the patient had in mind. With repeated effort and a degree of luck, the layered composite veneer might be pleasing and satisfactory to the patient. Without such luck, the dentist may have to modify or possibly redo the veneer until the patient is satisfied. Thus, a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that allows the dentist using in-office restorative materials, such as conventional composites, to accurately demonstrate and then reproduce what the patient desires, shaped and characterized to meet their personal expectations.
Conventional composite veneers also are difficult and laborious to perform from the dental practitioner's perspective. It can take significant amount of in-office time to mold and sculpt a veneer, precious time that the dentist may not have. Some in-office conventional composite veneer techniques can take up to several hours, if not longer, to treat just one patient who may have multiple teeth that require aesthetic enhancement. When the patient is shown the final result, the patient may need to return for additional contouring and shaping appointments in order for the veneer to aesthetically blend in with the adjacent teeth. All of this creates a dilemma for dentists who either do not have the time to block off several hours to perform the initial aesthetic transformation or who may not have the artistic talent to create a veneer that utilizes the principles of size, shape and color to create illusions, resulting in beautiful veneers that provide predictable, long lasting, outstanding aesthetic results. Thus a need exists for a method of making tooth veneers that helps simplify the material application skills, creates a beautiful looking veneer in one visit in a shorter period of time and decreases finishing and polishing time and minimizes the number of visits required to achieve a bright, dazzling, engaging smile.
Conventional composite veneers are often made by a dentist after doing computer imaging or wax mock-ups on a study model. However the dentist or patient does not know if the results achieved on a computer or on a study model can be replicated in the patient's mouth. After the dentist places and washes off an etchant on the tooth the dentist will then place and cure a bonding agent on the tooth's surface. A composite of choice is then placed on the tooth. Many dental manufacturers recommend placing an opaque layer on top of the cured bonding agent and/or using tinting agents to help neutralize any discolorations on or inside the tooth that could show through the composite restoration. This requires additional chair time and knowledge of how to use these agents in a manner that does not create an artificial appearance. For the general dentist this is a skill set that is not known as it requires an artistic basis in contrast to the restorative background dentists are trained in. After the process of neutralization is achieved, many dental manufacturers recommend placing a body or dentin layer of composite material on the tooth's surface. After the body layer is selected the dentist then needs to select an enamel layer that is placed over the dentin layer. Some manufacturers also recommend placing an incisal shade of composite over the biting edge of the tooth. The time and aesthetic skill required to perform these tasks is beyond the skill set that the general dentist has cultivated in their practice and thus, the dentist looks to the laboratory technician to provide them with porcelain veneers. Thus, there is a need for a method of making tooth veneers that eliminates the majority of the above referenced procedural steps to provide their patients with a noninvasive, cost-effective solution to correcting the size, shape or appearance of one or more teeth.
Tooth preparation for porcelain veneers typically require enamel removal along the facial (front), incisal (biting edge) and interproximal (sides) surfaces of the tooth. Removal of the incisal edge concurrently removes some of the lingual surface. The prep technique associated with porcelain veneers is still essentially a relatively invasive dental procedure, requiring the destruction of healthy tooth structure even when there is no overlapping, crowding or malpositioning of teeth. The processes are uncomfortable and relatively expensive for the patient. Thus, there is a need for a method of making tooth veneers without the invasive tooth preparations that prior art veneers require.